The present invention relates to a mini-roller cleaning tool and, in particular, to an adapter for enabling a mini-roller to be attached to traditional cleaning devices so as to facilitate cleaning of the mini-roller.
The use of mini-rollers has become common place in painting and other related industries. These rolling paint brushes, often referred to as Seven Inch Rollers and Weenie Rollers, are different from conventional paint rollers in that they have an overall diameter of approximately 1 inch, and a hollow center with a diameter of approximately one-quarter of an inch. The mini-rollers were originally developed for painting in hard to reach areas, such as behind toilets. However, the use of mini-rollers for other painting applications has spread because of their convenient size, and the ease with which they may be used in tight corners, etc.
One major problem with the mini-rollers is that, until the present invention, there has been no practical way to clean the rollers once they are used. Conventional brushes and rollers are usually cleaned by using a paint brush/roller cover spinner. A paint brush/roller cover spinner is typically a hand held device which has a pair of arms which hold a standard sized paint brush handle, or fit within the hollow center of a traditional roller. Once the roller or handle is secured by the arms, a force is applied to the handle causing the paint brush or roller to spin, thereby using centrifugal force to expel left over paint from the brush. The force is usually applied by holding a body of the paint brush spinner and pushing a handle towards the body. A shaft connecting the handle and the body translates axial movement of the handle into radial movement by the arms, and causes the arms to rotate at a high rate of speed.
Another common version of the paint brush spinner utilizes a water pressure from a hose to rotate the arms. By utilizing water pressure, higher rotational velocities can be achieved.
Because of the design of most paint brush/roller cover spinners, it has been impractical before the present invention to use a paint brush spinner to clean mini-rollers. Instead, the mini-roller is usually thrown away, no matter how short the use, because paint cannot be removed from the roller. As the paint dries, the mini-roller becomes unusable. Because mini-rollers tend to be rather expensive, their routine disposal creates both environmental and economic waste.
Thus, there is a need for an device which will enable painters to use a mini-roller with a paint brush spinner to clean the rollers so that they may be reused.